Fruit of the Vine

I am by no means a wine snob. I know that I like certain types of wine and that I really dislike other varieties, but I have never in my life noted "a hint of cherry." I enjoy the beefier red wines such as Amarone, Brunello (made from Sangiovese grape) and the Argentinian Malbec.

In Ontario, we are largely limited by the fact that the LCBO controls the sale of all liquor in the province. What you can do is use one of the smaller wine merchants in order to get something that's not on the shelf at your local LCBO. Wine merchants are not only useful in Ontario though and you'll find that there are benefits to using them wherever you reside. Find a wine broker you can trust (a feat) and she can suggest other wines that might be in keeping with your style. I know this all sounds really snobby and pretentious, but I assure you it is not. You can still buy $13/bottle wine through a merchant, the only issue is that they usually require you purchase a case minimum (12 bottles), so be sure you know what you like.

Through Wine Searcher I was able to find a merchant in Toronto who was selling the Righetti 2004 Campolieti Valpolicella, a good ripasso that I can afford at $15.85 CDN a bottle. The Wine Searcher service is really easy to use if you know what you're looking for. You just enter your country and the variety of wine and it will list the vintages available and the brokers selling them.

Apparently the weather is getting colder outside, so go grab yourself a case of nice red wine. It will keep you and your guests warm until this storm passes.